The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
48°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Spokane Regional Health District looks to expand its opioid treatment services

Spokane Regional Health District Treatment Services Director Misty Challinor, center, addresses the crowd along with County Commissioners Amber Waldref, left, and Mary Kuney during the ribbon-cutting in October 2023 for the district’s Opioid Treatment Services Program. (Kathy Plonka/The Spokesman-Review)
By Amanda Sullender amandas@spokesman.com(509) 459-5455

The Spokane Regional Health District wants to expand its opioid treatment services.

Just last year, the local health agency was exploring the possibility of transferring its opioid treatment to a private company or nonprofit. With that idea jettisoned, SRHD is looking to expand the hours it operates its opioid treatment facility.

Right now, treatment services are open from 5:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. except on Fridays, when the clinic closes at 12:30 p.m. The proposal would keep the facility open until 6 p.m. on weekdays and add Saturday hours from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Board of Health has not approved the expansion, and it remains unclear when it could be implemented.

The increased hours are needed to access a new population of patients, Division Director of Treatment Services Misty Challinor said during a recent SRHD board meeting.

“One of the biggest problems that we see is that the limited hours that we have really prohibits availability for individuals coming in off the street to come seek services, or individuals who are employed coming to seek services when they are off of their work hours,” she said.

The focus of increasing the hours would be to reach more people and conduct an initial intake process getting them in the system. These initial assessments take upward of three hours, and not many can be conducted in a single day.

“We know that there’s an extensive problem in Spokane County with opioid addiction, and so we know we’re turning people away. We know that people have expressed to us that extended hours would be very helpful,” Challinor said.

Last week, the Spokane City Council agreed to disperse $350,000 from its opioid settlement fund to help expand SRHD treatment services’ hours and staffing. The county has matched this funding.

The opioid settlement fund captured the legal settlements that drug companies and pharmacies paid to settle major lawsuits alleging they made and distributed the addictive and dangerous drugs without following proper guidelines.

These actions have been blamed in part for the opioid crisis that encompasses 1 million overdose deaths in the past 25 years.

“I think this will make a difference,” Councilmember Zack Zappone said. “This is a data-informed approach, that we had a presentation as a council about gaps in services, and that this is bringing forth a plan to address those gaps in services.”

Councilmembers Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart voted against the package because of their opposition to a $140,000 expense to hire a data analyst. Bingle suggested analysis of opioid funding could be done cheaper and more reliably by artificial intelligence.

In 2023, SRHD treatment services spent more money than it took in.

The division of the health district is running at a $313,556 surplus this year.